The Art of Pureeing

Pureeing vegetables and fruits is a good way for you to get more nutrition into your daily diet. Kids especially don’t like to eat certain vegetables and fruits but you can get them into your food and make them tasty if you can cultivate the art of pureeing.
What is a puree? It is a liquid created by blending vegetables until they are the consistency of a creamy soup. In this form they can provide needed vitamins and minerals in a number of places:
* Casseroles
* Stews
* Cakes
* Soups
* Sauces
The best thing about the pureeing process is that the food retains all of the valuable nutrition because you only steam them. The best veggies and fruits for purees are soft enough to be smoothly blended in a blender or food processor.

Most blenders these days have settings that allow you to make all sorts of delicious things in minutes. You can create smoothies, milkshakes, blend foods and also make a finer puree. So, dust yours off and get to it.

Pureeing Vegetables

Here are a few tips to get you started in the vegetable puree business.

1. Choose vegetables that are simple. This means that veggies with a lot of stringy pulp won’t make for a smooth puree. One way to help avoid this is to chop up the vegetables in the smallest pieces possible.
2. Wash your vegetables. Before using them, wash them thoroughly. Also, remove the skin if it will hinder the pureeing process.
3. Steam your vegetables. You can use a saucepan only or a saucepan with a steamer basket. Steaming cooks the vegetables to just doneness without cooking out the nutrients. It only takes about five minutes to steam most vegetables. Check with a fork for doneness.
4. Place the veggies in your blender. Use the puree setting until you have reached the desired consistency.
5. Store puree in the refrigerator and use within a week. Freeze for longer storage.
Pureeing Fruits

1. Clean the fruit. If it has a lot of seeds or pithy pulp, remove it and the skin.
2. Cut fruit into bite size pieces for more even cooking.
3. Place fruit in a saucepan with enough liquid to cover it. Bring to a boil while stirring constantly to avoid burning.
4. Use a potato masher to mash up your fruit. You want to remove any large pieces that can ruin the puree.
5. Add the fruit to the blender along with the rest of the liquid in the pan. Blend to the desired consistency.
6. Store puree in the refrigerator and use within a week. Freeze for longer storage.

Pureeing fruit and vegetables makes it easier to increase nutrition without much effort.